


Pain, for All of Them

by SkySkySkylar



Series: Reforging [1]
Category: Emelan - Tamora Pierce
Genre: PTSD, post WoTE, small Battle Magic spoiler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 16:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkySkySkylar/pseuds/SkySkySkylar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Briar's PTSD affects all of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pain, for All of Them

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Wordy during the 2013 Goldenlake Wishing Tree Exchange. Prompt: Briar dealing with PTSD.

Briar, Daja, Sandry, and Tris were sitting around the dining room table at Number 6 Cheeseman Street. Dinner had long since finished, and they were each engaged in their own pursuits – broken jewelry for Daja and books for the rest.

Briar was having trouble focusing, Sandry noticed. She wasn't sure if she knew this through their shared magic or if her subconscious had registered his constant twitching, but looking closely at him now, she knew it to be true.

Briar looked up at her. "What?" he asked. It came out sharper than he meant it to, and he grimaced. He was trying, he really was, but some things were still hard, and allowing his sisters – who knew (or used to know) his mind better than anyone – well, allowing them to look too closely at his moods was one of them.

 _Careful_ , Tris said in Sandry's mind. She knew that. Getting Briar to open up to them even the tiniest bit about his experience in Gyonxe was always difficult, and so she spoke carefully.

"You seem distracted," she said.

Briar stared at her. He had expected something more. "Yes," he said.

"Are you all right?"

Briar frowned. "Yes."

"Briar," Tris said, leaning forward and putting her chin in her hands. "We know you're still hurting from Gyonxe. It's okay. But hiding it from us isn't going to make it go away."

Briar dropped his head down to the table, cushioning it with his arms. The other three sat there looking at him, and glancing at each other.

 _Stop it,_ thought Daja, to Tris. The redhead was holding her breath.

_But if I said something wrong, if he's hurting more now, if –_

Daja cut her off. _No. Stop. You can't worry too much, or he'll pick up on your mood if he hasn't already. Let him process, and then you'll make amends if you need to._

Briar sat up. He was near tears. _If only they knew,_ he thought to himself. _If only they knew – I wish I could hide this from them. But I can hardly do that when I seem to be hiding it from myself..._ "Rosethorn isn't hurting anymore," he said out loud. "And neither is Evvy. Why me?"

A brief silence followed this statement.

"Rosethorn's still hurting," Daja said. "She implied as much when I visited her and Lark last Watersday."

"Not as much as me," Briar whispered.

Another brief silence.

"Maybe that's because Rosethorn's seen a mind healer," Tris said gently.

A sharp intake of breath and clenched fists from Briar followed her words.

"You did promise you would see one when we got home," Tris added, as gently as she could.

Briar sat still, frozen in spot. It was true. He had promised. He had promised, but he couldn't. It was too much. It was probably true, what Daja and Tris said about Rosethorn. And it probably would help him. But how could it help him to talk about it when he didn't remember the things he needed to talk about? Distracted, but wanting to be alone, he stood up and walked toward the back of the house. He remembered to take his book with him.

Back in the dining room, Daja and Tris looked at each other.

"You were quiet," Tris noted, turning to Sandry.

The expression of pain on Sandry's face made Tris close her eyes.

In his room, Briar absently stroked his _shakaan._ Closing his eyes, he let the tears fall.


End file.
